Today's Invitation to Play is designed to encourage young children to learn and explore numbers.
Possible outcomes include counting, number recognition, drawing, writing, representation, one-to-to correspondence, manipulation, calculator skills, memory, fine motor and more.
My favourite thing about Invitations to Play is that they are open ended. This means that there is no set outcome or end result that must be achieved. It also means that the child has the freedom to work at their own level and ability within their own interests.
Ages: 2-6+
(See Handy Tips at the bottom for ways to simplify and extend to meet your children's needs)
Materials: (we used) Number books/charts, foam number stickers, dot stickers, glass stones, paper, markers and calculator.
You could also use: counters, beads, beans, number stamps, number stencils, deck of cards, dice (and pretty much anything with numbers on it or number/counting/manipulating related) etc.
The stickers and the calculator were utilised first by my daughter (aged 3.5y)
Without prompting she decided to start at the number one and found a foam 1 sticker and then the number 1 on the calculator.
"The "1" sticker needs 1 dot sticker to go with it"
I love how she used one-to-one correspondence to place one glass bead on top of each dot sticker.
This is a great moment to talk with the child about what they have done and why.
Having visual cues is good for children to make and form connections between the written symbol and the amount. They are able to see and count. Having them talk about what they see connects the language that goes with it.
Seeing the written numbers (written both in numerical form and the written words) will also allow children to attempt their own writing of the numbers.
She spend a long time drawing 3 little people, finding and sticking the number 3 and corresponding one glass bead with each person.
Here in this little picture alone are a number of important and valuable skills that have been used.
I was so happy to see her representation of the number in a different way.
Handy Tips:
- Simplify this activity by providing a few less materials to work with. Start with something like paper, number stickers and sticker dots. Add new/different materials each time and focus on working with and manipulating them. Try another invitation another day with a calculator and beads/counters/stones so that the materials are all introduced but separately to give enough chance to explore them and learn how to use them (just peeling the back paper off foam stickers can be tricky for little kids still developing their fine motor skills.. but so worthwhile)
- Extend this activity by mixing around and changing materials for the children to explore. Provide number charts etc of higher numbers depending on the children's levels. Try adding glue and craft sticks for children to make their own 10s frames (10 beans/beads etc stuck to a paddle pop stick to represent the number 10). You could have these made already and add them in for children exploring larger numbers. Challenge them to use all the materials combined to demonstrate a chosen number representation. Have them teach/show this to their siblings/peers/you.
- Assist your child to use materials they may be unfamiliar with like a calculator. Allow them to explore it themselves first and just step in where needed.
- Use new language and descriptive words like, "represent" This will help with their language development.
- Supervise your child when using small items such as glass beads/stones.
More Invitations to Play
Pipe cleaners, Craft sticks, Playdough and Animals
Paint and Recycled Materials
Playdough Sweets
Marble Exploration
Paint and Recycled Materials
Playdough Sweets
Marble Exploration
